The moral argument against the drone attacks does not rest its case on civilian casualties, of which there were 41 on Thursday in North Waziristan. Similarly, the argument does not cease to carry weight when the drones kill wanted militants, even extremely high profile ones like Baitullah Mehsud, the Pakistani Taliban chief who masterminded a spate of terrorist attacks and was purportedly behind the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. The attacks are to be opposed even if the political leadership secretly supports them despite publicly opposing the same. They should be opposed even if the military has been, according to sources, cooperating at the intelligence sharing stage.
The argument against the drone attacks stems from the fact that they are a form of unaccountable power. And any example of the latter is the stuff catastrophic cruelty is made of. Even if Pakistani public representatives do support the drones, they do so clandestinely, removing that ever elusive accountability from the equation. Since these are operational issues, accountability by even the American public is limited. Neutralised terrorist outfits here and there might look good to liberal Pakistanis but passivity to the whole exercise is a slippery slope. Neocolonialism could not be stripped barer than these attacks. No respect for sovereignty translates into no respect for a people. The argument against the drone attacks is lost on those who rightly view the Islamofascist terrorists as an existential threat to the country but do not see much beyond that.
We are a Republic where the elected representatives are not empowered enough by the permanent establishment on security issues. Western governments realise this and are also cognisant of the smoke-and-mirrors war the Pakistani powers that be play in the tribal areas. This leads them to believe – erroneously, it must always be stated – that the drone attacks are justified. A measure of honesty from all sides would immediately eliminate the need for these attacks. The three sides the US, the Pakistan political government and the military leadership need to develop a clear consensus on the war in Fata if they want peace in the region.